Journal article · 2014
Collaboration strategies for a transition economy: measuring culture in Albania
Cross Cultural Management, 21(1), pp. 78–103 · Published
Summary
Vajjhala and Strang (2014) measured Albania’s national culture for the first time in the literature, surveying 73 business professionals in Tirana with a five-factor instrument adapted from Hofstede and validated through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. They estimated Albania’s indexes, which are aggregated means rather than exact measures, as power distance 78.7, individualism 42.7, masculinity 72.9, uncertainty avoidance 64.6 and long-term orientation 52.2. Albania was most similar to its Balkan and Turkish neighbors rather than to Asian or Western cultures such as the USA.
Practical implication. Foreign organizations can use the Albanian national culture indexes as general indicators of national beliefs, norms and values to benchmark against their own culture profile and adapt collaboration strategies for Albania.
- The Problem
- Foreign organizations collaborating with Albania had no empirical measure of its national culture, because Albania was absent from Hofstede’s cultural-dimension data.
- The Methodology
- Non-experimental post-positivist survey of 73 business professionals in Tirana validating a five-factor Hofstede-based instrument through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, with national culture indexes computed and benchmarked against Hofstede data.
- The Core Finding
- A validated five-factor survey of 73 Tirana business professionals produced the first Hofstede-style indexes for Albania (power distance 78.7, individualism 42.7, masculinity 72.9, uncertainty avoidance 64.6, long-term orientation 52.2). Albania’s profile is closest to its Balkan and Turkish neighbours rather than to Western cultures such as the USA.
- The Citation
- Vajjhala, N. R., & Strang, K. D. (2014). Collaboration strategies for a transition economy: measuring culture in Albania. Cross Cultural Management, 21(1), 78–103. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCM-02-2013-0023
The summary, key findings, methods, implications and relevance notes on this page are this website’s own description of the paper, written from the published abstract and text. The official abstract and citation details are given further down.
Key findings
- Finding 1. The study measured Albania's national culture for the first time in the literature, surveying 73 business professionals in Tirana with a five-factor multicultural instrument adapted from Hofstede.
- Finding 2. Exploratory factor analysis reduced the Albanian culture instrument from 55 to 35 items, with all loadings over 0.5 and the five factors capturing 50% (0.496) of variance (KMO = 0.61).
- Finding 3. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the five-factor culture model for Albania (χ² = 567.5, DF = 377, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.93, SRMR = 0.05, RMSEA = 0.05), with all factor alphas over 0.70 and overall Cronbach's α = 0.76.
- Finding 4. Albania's national culture indexes were power distance (PDI) = 78.7, individualism-collectivism (ICI) = 42.7, masculinity-femininity (MFI) = 72.9, uncertainty avoidance (UAI) = 64.6 and long-term orientation (LTI) = 52.2.
- Finding 5. Albania was found to be collectivist (low ICI) and to accept hierarchy (high PDI) with high uncertainty avoidance, but contrary to the hypothesis its masculinity index was high rather than low.
- Finding 6. Compared with China, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey and the USA, Albania was very close to China on power distance, similar to Turkey on collectivism, closer to the Czech Republic and Slovakia on uncertainty avoidance, and had least in common with the USA.
- Finding 7. The authors attribute Albania's culture profile to 500 years of Ottoman Turkish rule, Balkan neighbors, a strict communist regime and the 1996–1997 pyramid scheme collapse.
Source: Vajjhala & Strang (2014), Cross Cultural Management, 21(1), pp. 78–103. DOI: 10.1108/CCM-02-2013-0023
The study in detail
What question does this paper answer?
What is Albania's national culture profile on Hofstede's five dimensions, and how does it compare with other countries that foreign organizations might collaborate with?
What did the study find, in detail?
Surveying 73 business professionals in Tirana and validating a five-factor multicultural model (CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.05, overall Cronbach's α = 0.76), the study estimated Albania's indexes as PDI = 78.7, ICI = 42.7, MFI = 72.9, UAI = 64.6 and LTI = 52.2. Albania was most similar to its Balkan and Turkish neighbors (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey) rather than to Asian or Western cultures such as the USA.
Why does it matter?
The Albanian indexes give foreign governments, corporations and nonprofits general indicators of national beliefs, norms and values to benchmark against their own culture profile when collaborating in this emerging transition economy. Large gaps between two nations' indexes suggest the approaching entity must customize its approach, and the validated instrument can be reused to profile other countries.
This study is part of the evidence overview How does national culture shape knowledge sharing and collaboration in transition economies? Evidence from Albania
Methods and data
| Research question | How can Albania's national culture be measured and how does it compare with benchmark countries? |
|---|---|
| Design | Non-experimental, post-positivist survey replicating an a priori five-factor multicultural model adapted from Hofstede |
| Sample | 73 business professionals working in Tirana, Albania (mean age 32; 56% female), purposively selected from the Tirana business directory |
| Methods | Pilot focus group (n = 4), principal components exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation (55 items reduced to 35), confirmatory factor analysis, and index calculation compared with Hofstede data |
| Main result | PDI = 78.7, ICI = 42.7, MFI = 72.9, UAI = 64.6, LTI = 52.2; Albania resembles the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Turkey more than China or the USA |
| Implication | Foreign organizations can use the indexes to benchmark and adapt collaboration strategies for Albania |
| Citation | Vajjhala & Strang (2014) · DOI 10.1108/CCM-02-2013-0023 |
Definitions and key terms
- National culture
- The distinctive shared values, beliefs and assumptions guiding the behavior of the inhabitants of a nation (Stonehouse et al., 2004). — as used in Vajjhala & Strang (2014)
- Transition economy
- A country moving from a centrally planned (often former communist) system to a free market economy through liberalization, stabilization, restructuring, privatization and institutional reform. — as used in Vajjhala & Strang (2014)
- Power distance index (PDI)
- The extent to which less powerful individuals in a society accept inequality in power. — as used in Vajjhala & Strang (2014)
Abstract
Purpose – The researchers in this study reviewed the literature to locate the most relevant multicultural theories, factors, and instruments in order to measure Albania’s national culture. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – An innovative combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was used to fit the multicultural construct to the sample data and then estimate the national culture (n = 73). The multicultural indexes were calculated for five generally accepted national culture factors to compare with the benchmarks published in the literature. Findings – The multicultural indexes were calculated for five generally accepted national culture factors to compare with the benchmarks published in the literature. An asymmetric plot was created for critical comparison of Albania with five other theoretically selected countries, using the indexes for PDi, ICi, MFi, UAi, and LTi. Albania was found to be most similar to its Balkan and Turkish neighbors, as compared with Asian or Western cultures such as that of the USA. Research limitations/implications – The researchers discussed the implications of knowing Albania’s national culture profile with reference to how other countries might collaborate and transact with this emerging transition economy. Practical implications – From a business standpoint, the multicultural indexes for Albania provide general indicators of the national beliefs, norms and values, which foreign organizations may compare to their own cultural profile when interacting with professionals in this country. The best use for such indexes is for benchmarking and comparison. Foreign government, private corporations, or nonprofit organizations may compare their own culture profile with that of Albania to be aware of the similarities and differences. Originality/value – Albanian national culture was estimated for the first time in the literature, using a five-factor model adapted from the work of Hofstede.
Abstract as published in Cross Cultural Management.
Keywords: Confirmatory factor analysis; Albania; Collaboration strategies; Instrument validation; National global culture model dimensions; Transition economy
Limitations and open questions
- The major limitation was the small sample size (n = 73), below the commonly recommended 100 for factor analysis, due partly to political constraints in Albania.
- Sampling was nonrandom: participants were purposively selected from the business directory of Tirana only, whereas a true national random sample would include other cities.
- The indexes are aggregated means of Albanian nationals rather than exact measures.
- The sixth Hofstede dimension (indulgence versus restraint) was not analyzed because no baseline existed for comparison.
Open questions
- Would the Albanian culture indexes hold with a larger, random national sample drawn from cities beyond Tirana?
- Are gaps in individualism and masculinity harder to bridge in cross-border collaboration than gaps in power distance, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation, as Vajjhala and Strang posit?
Open questions from the evidence overview Culture, knowledge management and transition economies.
Practical implications
- Foreign governments, private corporations and nonprofit organizations may use the Albanian national culture indexes for benchmarking and comparison, comparing their own culture profile with that of Albania to be aware of the similarities and differences.
- Foreign organizations approaching Albania can compare their own nation’s indexes with Albania’s, because large gaps between two nations’ indexes suggest the approaching entity must customize its approach.
- Researchers replicating Hofstede-based instruments can reuse the five-factor instrument validated in Albania to profile other countries.
- For researchers who need national culture index estimates for Albania, the sampling was nonrandom: participants were purposively selected from the business directory of Tirana only, whereas a true national random sample would include other cities.
Drawn from Vajjhala & Strang (2014), Cross Cultural Management, 21(1), pp. 78–103.
When this research may be relevant
This article may be relevant to researchers who need national culture index estimates for Albania, cross-cultural management and collaboration strategies in the Balkans and transition economies, replication and validation of Hofstede-based instruments, or comparative studies of Albania with Czech, Slovak and Turkish cultural profiles.
Research topics addressed: national culture; cross-cultural management; Hofstede cultural dimensions; Albania; transition economy; power distance; individualism-collectivism; uncertainty avoidance; masculinity-femininity; long-term orientation; exploratory factor analysis; confirmatory factor analysis; survey instrument validation; Balkans; international business collaboration
How to cite
- APA 7
- Vajjhala, N. R., & Strang, K. D. (2014). Collaboration strategies for a transition economy: measuring culture in Albania. Cross Cultural Management, 21(1), 78–103. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCM-02-2013-0023
- MLA 9
- Vajjhala, Narasimha Rao, and Kenneth David Strang. “Collaboration strategies for a transition economy: measuring culture in Albania.” Cross Cultural Management, vol. 21, no. 1, 2014, pp. 78–103. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCM-02-2013-0023.
- IEEE
- N. R. Vajjhala and K. D. Strang, “Collaboration strategies for a transition economy: measuring culture in Albania,” Cross Cultural Management, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 78–103, Jan. 2014, doi: 10.1108/CCM-02-2013-0023.
BibTeX
@article{vajjhala2014albania,
title = {Collaboration strategies for a transition economy: measuring culture in Albania},
author = {Vajjhala, Narasimha Rao and Strang, Kenneth David},
journal = {Cross Cultural Management},
volume = {21},
number = {1},
pages = {78--103},
year = {2014},
publisher = {Emerald Group Publishing Limited},
doi = {10.1108/CCM-02-2013-0023},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1108/CCM-02-2013-0023}
}RIS
TY - JOUR TI - Collaboration strategies for a transition economy: measuring culture in Albania AU - Vajjhala, Narasimha Rao AU - Strang, Kenneth David JO - Cross Cultural Management PY - 2014 DA - 2014/01/28 VL - 21 IS - 1 SP - 78 EP - 103 PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited SN - 1352-7606 DO - 10.1108/CCM-02-2013-0023 UR - https://www.narasimharao.net/research/albania-national-culture-hofstede-transition-economy/ LA - en ER -
Links and files
Related work
Related work: the literature this study cites
For the national culture indexes, Vajjhala and Strang report agreement with GLOBE on high uncertainty avoidance for Albania, but a higher power distance than GLOBE indicated[1]. The collectivist, hierarchical profile matches the GLOBE description of the Eastern European cluster, except that masculinity was higher than the gender egalitarianism reported for that cluster[2]. The high masculinity also contradicts the view that post-communist societies are usually feminine[3]; the authors attribute it to Balkan neighbours and 500 years of Ottoman rule. A study using the Trompenaars-Hampden-Turner framework reached similar conclusions on collectivism and past-present orientation for Albania and its Adriatic neighbours[4]. The authors note criticisms that Hofstede’s data came from a single corporation (IBM) over 1967-1972[5] and that such dimensions describe country-level rather than individual-level value structures[6].
- [1] House, R.J., Hanges, P.J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P.W. and Gupta, V. (2004), Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
- [2] Bakacsi, G., Sandor, T., Karacsonyi, A. and Viktor, I. (2002), “Eastern European cluster: tradition and transition”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 37 No. 1, pp. 69-80.
- [3] Borić, M. and Wetwood, J.M. (2003), “Do theories developed in one cultural environment apply abroad? Countries in transition”, Ekonomski fakultet Sveucilista u Splitu, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 967-983.
- [4] Goic, S. and Bilic, I. (2008), “Business culture in Croatia and some countries in transition”, Management, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 41-63.
- [5] Shenkar, O. and Luo, Y. (2004), International Business, Wiley, New York, NY.
- [6] Fischer, R., Vauclair, C.-M., Fontaine, J.R.J. and Schwartz, S.H. (2010), “Are individual-level and country-level value structures different? Testing Hofstede’s legacy with the Schwartz value survey”, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 41 No. 2, pp. 135-151.
From the evidence overview How does national culture shape knowledge sharing and collaboration in transition economies? Evidence from Albania, which cites only works that appear in the studies’ own reference lists. This is a selection, not the full reference list of Vajjhala & Strang (2014).
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